I’ve decided to stop listening to EscapePod and PodCastle, and there’s no reason you need to know this. But I’m always running out of shit to say, so I figured this was something to write about. This isn’t out of the blue though. There are two good reasons. One is a problem I feared would happen, despite editor reassurances that it wouldn’t. Two years ago they split fantasy stories off into their own podcast — PodCastle. I like both fantasy and sci-fi and I like getting the best of both. And that’s hard to do with short stories since I’m not in love with them, they have so much harder…
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Whining About Originality
Not a good day for my writing mojo. Because I listened to this podcast today — The Mermaids Singing Each to Each by Cat Rambo (text version). Now I have no idea how this happened. It is surely coincidence, but a bizarre coincidence. But this story has all the elements that Mermaid Story is going to have–ocean setting, ship with talking AI, mermaids, post-apocalyptic future, body modifications, even “new” money. These aren’t just little bits either–they’re the macguffins that the novel hinges on, the same as this one. True, it’s not the same story. But it has all the setting elements that I use that differentiated it from other books.…
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Dunesteef Is Awesome
Since I’m getting published in Dunesteef, I figured I should at least listen to a few episodes (boy, I hope they’re not reading this). I listened to the three most recent ones and I have this to say. First, wow. I was blown away by the production values on this thing. I’ve listened to every episode of EscapePod and its brethren, but that’s all straight story narration – no fluff whatsoever. This… this has SOUND EFFECTS and AMBIENCE. You can hear feet crunching the leaves and they get quicker when someone’s running. You hear the bloops and beeps of the computer. You hear the crackle of fire. It’s more like…
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EscapePod Goes On Vacation
In the car on the way to work, I no longer listen to the radio. Today’s radio is asinine, libelious, and insulting to my intelligence. I mostly listen to my MP3 player. My staples are old episodes of Loveline, the Adam Carolla Show, and EscapePod. Currently, EscapePod is going on hiatus. That’s what it is, but not what the publisher calls it. I have a lot of respect for Stephen Eley. He’s a competent producer. He consistently provides good content and insightful commentary week after week. He delivers a finished product at a professional level. He manages two other podcasts. And all for free and out of his basement. But…